Slot Tips

Slot machines are some of the most entertaining and potentially lucrative games you’ll find in any casino. While it’s easy to just walk up to a machine (or in the case of an online casino, load a slot machine game) and play a slot machine, you’ll have a lot more success — and a lot more fun — if you follow a few simple tips.

Try Before You Buy: One of the greatest advantages to playing at an online casino is the fact that you can play most games in a “free play” mode before committing any money to the casino. While you can use this feature on table games, it becomes especially handy when you’re dealing with slot machines and video poker games. Since these games can vary tremendously from casino to casino, it’s worth taking advantage of it to see which slots you find the most appealing at a given casino. That can save you a lot of money and frustration that could come from losing money on a slot machine you don’t enjoy playing.

Know the Rules of the Game: If you’re going to play in a casino, it’s important to understand the rules of the games you’re playing. This is just as true for slot machines as any other game. Does the machine you’re playing have any special options you need to know about? Can you change the denomination of the coins you’re playing or the number of coins or lines you play? Do you need to make a maximum bet in order to get the best odds? The answers to these questions will often have a big impact on how you play that slot machine.

Play the Full Number of Coins: If it’s not clear whether or not playing the maximum number of coins is necessary to win the biggest prizes in a slot machine, you should usually default to playing the full number of coins, just in case. This is especially true in the case of progressive slot machines, where you normally can’t win the entire jackpot unless you make the maximum bet. The general rule of thumb is to pick a denomination of coins where you’re comfortable playing for the maximum amount; it’s usually better to make a max bet on a penny slot than make a modest bet on a nickel slot.

Attack Big Jackpots: One of the best ways to improve your results on slot machines is by attempting to win oversized progressive jackpots. If a machine that offers a progressive jackpot hasn’t been won for an unusually long time, the top prize should be much higher than it normally is, improving the machine’s return. This is one of the few ways in which slots players can actually have an advantage over the casino during play, so you don’t want to pass up these opportunities.

Watch for Special Features: Speaking of playing at an advantage, most modern video slots offer numerous bonus features, all of which provide players with big rewards for completing them. While the majority of these features are randomly awarded, sometimes you’ll find a game where you can anticipate when a bonus round is coming. If you know that a bonus feature will be activated soon, it’s important that you stick around to play the special round. Some games require you to collect symbols over the course of many spins, allowing you to gauge if you’re close to a special feature; in live casinos, we’ve even seen some new slots that actually tell players that a special feature is guaranteed to trigger within the next few minutes.

Take Advantage of Promotions: Many online casinos offer lots of promotions for slots players. Whether that means giving you a few free spins, guaranteeing you some percentage of your losses back as a refund, or a slots tournament with money added by the casino, each of these promotions is worth money to you as a player. Try keeping your eye on your favorite casino’s promotions page to find out where you can get special deals for playing slots.

Don’t be Superstitious: Whether things are going well or you’re on a losing streak, it’s easy to get caught up in a superstition that makes you play differently than you normally would. Remember that jackpots and most other prizes are awarded entirely randomly, and nothing you do on a machine can change that fact. A “cold” machine isn’t “due” to pay you a big score, and a “hot” machine isn’t any more likely to continue paying out. Play as long as you want to, or play until you hit a win or loss limit, but try not to chase losses — usually, you’ll only end up digging yourself a bigger hole.